BioCentury
ARTICLE | Politics & Policy

ABPI expresses 'major concern' about recent NICE decisions

December 7, 2012 2:20 AM UTC

The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry expressed "major concern" that recent recommendations from the U.K.'s NICE "are failing to recognize the progressive and iterative nature of medical discovery." The trade group said in a statement on Thursday that the increased use of generic and off-label drugs as comparators and a "lack of pragmatism" regarding available evidence are making it "increasingly" difficult to move new drugs through NICE.

ABPI cited as an example NICE's preliminary recommendation last month against Esbriet pirfenidone from InterMune Inc. (NASDAQ:ITMN) to treat mild to moderate idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). ABPI said the decision reiterates that the agency needs to "take into greater account levels of unmet need" and the need for "more pragmatic approaches to dealing with uncertainty in the evidence base." NICE declined to comment on ABPI's statement. ...